Live shark writhing on golf course likely fell from sky

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A 2-foot leopard shark was found at the San Juan Hills Golf Course in Orange County. (San Juan Hills Golf Club)

Live shark writhing on golf course likely fell from sky

A 2-foot leopard shark was found at the San Juan Hills Golf Course in Orange County. (San Juan Hills Golf Club)

ORANGE COUNTY, Ca.—A live shark dropping from the sky isn’t par for the course but that seems to be exactly what happened earlier in the week on a golf course in Orange County.

The 2-foot long leopard shark was found writhing at the 12th tee box at the San Juan Hills Golf Club.

Club employees immediately shifted into rescue mode. They prepared a container for transport, even thoughtfully throwing in some salt and then rushed the shark back to the ocean, five miles away.

“I thought he was dead,” Bryan Stizer, a club employee said to the Capistrano Dispatch. “When I dropped him into the water, he just lied there for a few seconds, but then he did a twist and shot off into the water.”

The Director of Operations, Melissa McCormack, said that blood was coming from the puncture wounds near the dorsal fin. She said that she believes a predatory bird lifted the shark out of the water.

That breed of shark is found in both ocean and bay environments, in shallow water. A scientist confirmed that it was indeed a leopard shark, and that there are predatory birds like osprey and peregrine falcons in the area that prey on fish in shallow waters.

The scientists said an osprey would likely be strong enough to lift the shark.

No one completely ruled out the possibility of human interference, but think the odds of that are slim—but then again–what are the odds of one falling from the sky.